Stop Dwelling On It—It May Make You Sick!

So you completely botched a job interview or stumbled your way through a toast at your friend's wedding. This may sound harsh, but you should really just get over it—your health may depend on it. Dwelling on a stressful event may increase inflammation levels in the body, according to new research out of Ohio University. The study is the first to directly measure the physiological link between inflammation and rumination on negative incidents.

For the study, researchers had 34 women ages 18 to 28 give an impromptu speech about their strengths and weaknesses to a panel. During the event, the panel remained stony-faced. Afterward, participants were instructed to either replay the speech in their mind for several minutes—or to imagine something else, like walking up and down the aisles of a grocery store. By collecting blood samples from the participants throughout the study, researchers discovered that the concentration of C-reactive proteins in the blood (a sign of inflammation) was higher for both groups following the stressful speech. But, while C-reactive protein levels continued to rise for the group that stayed focused on how poorly the speech went, they returned to normal for the group that thought about something else afterward.

“What we think this suggests is that ruminating or dwelling on these stressful events after they’re over may make the inflammatory response last longer—but distraction may reduce or lessen that,” says Peggy Zoccola, PhD, one of the co-authors of the study and an assistant professor of psychology at Ohio University.

Chronic inflammation has been linked to a number of diseases and disorders, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, dementia, and depression.

Women are more likely to report daily or weekly worrying, anxiety, or nervousness, according to a recent survey from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Even if you normally let things roll off your back, certain situations tend to bring out the worrier in all of us. “Things that are particularly upsetting or traumatic can lead an individual to engage in this kind of repetitive or ruminative thought,” says Zoccola. “You’re trying to think, ‘What happened? Why did it happen to me? What are the consequences?’”

When your mind is stuck on repeat and you can’t get a negative event out of your head, follow these tips:

Let yourself think about it While this may seem counterintuitive, research shows that making a conscious effort to not think about something almost guarantees you'll fixate on it. “Simply telling someone to suppress their thoughts and just not think about it may make them think about it even more,” says Zoccola. Instead, acknowledge your thoughts about the negative event, resist the urge to respond to them emotionally—just accept that you have them—and then imagine taking those thoughts and setting them aside. Some researchers think this mindfulness technique could help you move toward closure—and move on, says Zoccola.

Make sure your mind is elsewhere In the study, researchers used about 20 different prompts such as “Think about what a rose looks like,” “Picture a ship sailing on the ocean,” and “Imagine yourself walking down the aisles at the grocery store” to keep participants from thinking about the stressful speech they’d given. This exemplifies how distractions—even fairly mundane ones—may help keep your mind off of negative incidents. The key, says Zoccola, is to find something that will keep you fully absorbed, whether it’s a hands-on hobby you enjoy (like painting) or something that will keep your brain engaged (like a game of Sudoku).

Grab a pen Since people often get hung up on stressful events because they’re trying to make sense of them, taking to pen and paper (or a keyboard) can help. “Expressive writing and getting your emotions out there can help you construct a story, especially for something very disruptive,” says Zoccola, who points to research that shows writing or journaling after a stressful incident can lead to a more positive outcome and greater wellbeing. “It may help facilitate that closure process,” she says.

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